Sahadeva was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He and his twin brother Nakula were the sons of Madri, one of the wives of the Pandava patriarch Pandu, and Ashvini Kumaras, the divine twin physicians of the gods, whom she invoked to beget her sons due to Pandu's inability to progenate. Kunti, Sahadeva's step-mother, loved him the most despite his birth to Madri. Sahadeva is renowned for his wisdom, knowledge of astrology, and skill in swordsmanship.
The Mahājanapadas were sixteen kingdoms and aristocratic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, during the second urbanisation period.
The Panchala kingdom was one of the historical Mahajanapadas of ancient India. It was annexed into the Nanda Empire during the reign of Mahapadma Nanda. Ahichchhatra was capital of northern Panchala and Kampilya was capital of southern Panchala.
Kosala is the kingdom of Rama mentioned in the Ramayana. Ayodhya was its capital, now located in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Rama's sons Lava and Kusha inherited parts of this kingdom. Lava ruled from the city called Shravasti and Kusa from the city called Kushavati. A colony of Kosala kings existed in Madhya Pradesh. It was called Dakshina Kosala. Rama's mother Kausalya was from this kingdom. Rama extended his influence up to the island-kingdom of Lanka situated in the Indian Ocean. He had friendly relations with the southern kingdom of Kishkindha.
Malla Kingdom was situated in the Gangatic plain between the Kosala and Videha. The epic Mahabharata speaks about a Malla conquered by the Pandava Bhima during his military campaign through the eastern kingdoms to collect tribute for King Yudhishthira's Rajasuya sacrifice.
Saurashtra kingdom was one of the kingdom among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadava kings in the central and western India. Other kingdoms in this group include Chedi Kingdom, Dasarna Kingdom, Surasena Kingdom or Vraja Kingdom, Karusha Kingdom, Kunti Kingdom, Avanti Kingdom, Malava Kingdom, Gurjara Kingdom, Anarta Kingdom, Dwaraka Kingdom, Heheya Kingdom and Vidarbha Kingdom.
The Karusha Kingdom is one of the Yadava kingdoms of the Mahabharata epic. It is placed to the south of Chedi. Karusha king Dantavakra supported Chedi king Shishupala and was killed by Vasudeva Krishna. Karusha Kingdom is identified as modern Datia district of Madhya Pradesh.
Chedi was a kingdom which fell roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh regions to the south of river Yamuna along the river Ken. Its capital city was called Suktimati in Sanskrit.
Dasarna Kingdom was one of the many kingdoms ruled by Yadava kings in ancient central and western India. It lay to the south of the Chedi and Panchala kingdoms, in northern Madhya Pradesh. The Panchala prince Sikhandi married a princess from Dasarna. Sikhandi was alleged to be 'one of the neuter-gender'. This led to a dispute between the Dasarna king and the Panchala king Drupada.
The historical Avanti Kingdom of ancient India is described in the Mahabharata epic. Avanti was divided into north and south by river Vetravati. Initially, Mahissati was the capital of Southern Avanti, and Ujjaini was of northern Avanti, but at the times of Mahavira and Buddha, Ujjaini was the capital of integrated Avanti. The country of Avanti roughly corresponded to modern Malwa, Nimar and adjoining parts of the Madhya Pradesh.
Anarta is a Vedic period kingdom of ancient India described in the Mahabharata, roughly forming the northern Gujarat state of India. It was founded by the father of Vaivasvata Manu and Yama, named Anarta. He built a fortress at Kusasthali (Dvaraka), which was later flooded by Varuna. The place remained then for some time as a forest land, before Krishna and the Yadavas went there and built Dvaraka. It was then ruled by Yadavas after they fled from Mathura of Surasena Kingdom, due to the attacks of Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. The Yadava chiefs like Vasudeva Krishna, Bala Rama, Kritavarma and Satyaki, ruled this kingdom under their king Ugrasena. In Mahabharata, Dwaraka is considered as a capital city of Anarta Kingdom. But some other ancient texts like Mahabhagavata, mentions Dwaraka and Anarta as two independent kingdoms. As per the Purana viz. Bhagavata Purana, Bala Rama's wife Revati was from this kingdom.
Salwa is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. It was close to Madra Kingdom as both are mentioned together in many places. Saubha was its capital. Martikavati also was mentioned as the capital of Salwa kingdom. The famous prince Satyavan was from Salwa. He married the Madra princess, Savitri, the daughter of Madra king Aswapati. Their history is a famous narration in Mahabharata. Seven chapters 3:291 to 3:297 is dedicated to this history of Satyavan and Savitri.
Kekeya Kingdom was a kingdom mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata among the western kingdoms of then India. The epic Ramayana mentions one of the wives of Dasharatha, the king of Kosala and father of Rama, was from Kekeya kingdom and was known as Kaikeyi. Her son Bharata conquered the neighbouring kingdom of Gandhara and built the city of Takshasila. Later the sons and descendants of Bharata ruled this region from Takshasila.
Kalinga is a kingdom described in the legendary Indian text Mahabharata. They were a warrior clan who settled in and around the historical Kalinga region, present-day Odisha and northern parts of Andhra Pradesh. According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts.reference-Sudama Misra (1973). Janapada state in ancient India. Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana. p. 78.
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Krishna is the son of the Yaduvamsha chief Vasudeva and his wife Devaki. He is also widely known by his epithet, Vāsudeva.
An akshauhini is described in the Mahabharata as a battle formation consisting of 21,870 chariots ; 21,870 elephants ; 65,610 horses and 109,350 infantry. Thus one akshauhini consisted of 218,700 warriors. The ratio is 1 chariot : 1 elephant : 3 cavalry : 5 infantry soldiers. In each of these large number groups, the digits add up to 18.
Kampil, historically known as Kampilya, is a town and a Nagar panchayat in Farrukhabad district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located about 45 km from Farrukhabad, and 55 km from Budaun. It is a very important place from a historical point of view.
In Hindu texts, the Puru and Yadu Dynasties are the descendants of legendary King Pururavas who was a famous Hindu ruler in the Treta Yuga. Pururavas was the son of Ila and Budha. Some of the dynasties' important members were Yayati, Yadu, King Puru, Turvasu, Druhyu and Anu. According to Hindu mythology, Yayāti was one of the ancestors of Pandavas and the Yaduvamsha.
The Bhoja tribes were a collection of semi-Aryan ancient tribes, located in India during the Late Vedic Period. They are described as being an offshoot of the Yadava tribe in the Indian epic of Mahabharata. They were a branch of the Andhaka clan, who were in turn descendants of the Satvata clan descended from King Yadu. The Bhojas were sub-divided into eighteen branches and ruled from their capital at Mrittikavati, on the banks of the Parnasa river in Central India.
